Now you’ve got either a really nice
photograph or a trophy to place above the mantel.

Autumn marks the start of the season when
whitetail deer begin their annual mating ritual, arboreal rodents
bury their nuts, and birds head toward southern climes —
ideal conditions for wildlife photographers and hunters alike.

“Anywhere a tree is changing colors is
a place to go take pictures of wildlife,” says Illinois
nature photographer Carol Freeman.

She says that shutterbugs need not travel
long distances for wonderful fall photos; Illinois has many
appealing locales in which to get good wildlife pictures.

Novices, Freeman says, can start out by
snapping pictures of chipmunks or mallards in their own yards and
local parks.

For the more adventurous photographer,
however, she says that the thousands of American white pelicans in
Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, near Havana, are certainly
worth taking a shot at.

In October, she suggests slithering down to
southern Illinois to catch a glimpse of the migrating snakes. (In
the spring and fall, the U.S. Forest Service closes a section of a
gravel lane in the Shawnee National Forest, south of Chester, to
allow rattlers, water moccasins and copperheads to move between the
LaRue Swamps and nearby bluffs.)

Freeman also recommends checking out the
habitat of sandhill cranes, which live around Jasper, Ind., right
on the Illinois border.

“There are so many birds,”
Freeman says, that for photographers, “it’s sort of
like hunting fish in a barrel.”

Ironic, considering that fall is the start of
Illinois’ other shooting season as well.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources
issues more than 20 types of licenses for residents and
nonresidents, adults and children, to hunt deer with and without
antlers, fur-bearing creatures, turkey, and waterfowl. The number
of permits DNR hands out is limited for each county.

The first deer season is Nov. 18-20, the
second Dec. 1-4. According to Illinois
Game & Fish Magazine, the top
counties for buck (antlered male deer) hunting are LaSalle,
Sangamon, Fulton, Knox, Randolph, Bureau, Peoria, and Adams.

Some hunting events are designed just for
youngsters. DNR will hold a youth deer hunt at Baldwin Lake, near
the Kaskaskia River State Fish and Wildlife Area, Oct. 8 and 9.
Participants must apply by Sept. 12.

Oct. 7-9, the Duck Creek Station, in Fulton
County, hosts a deer hunt and safety-training class for physically
disabled children.

Beginning Thanksgiving Day, for 60 days this
fall and winter, duck hunters will able to bag as many as six birds
a day, with no more than four mallards (two hens), two scaup, two
wood ducks, two redheads, a pintail, and one black duck.

Of course, what’s good for the gander
is good for the goose — so hunters of Canada geese will have
an 86-day season in Illinois’ north and central zones and a
57-day season in the south.

Sure, Illinois is big, but photographer
Freeman offers a caveat to all the shooters who share wildlife in
the Land of Lincoln. Photographers, she says, must be aware of
hunting seasons and “certainly don’t want to go
anywhere near where that’s going to be an issue,” and
vice versa.

For more information about hunting and
wildlife photography, visit the DNR’s Web site,
dnr.state.il.us.